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There is going to be a Congressional Cybersecurity Lab to teach Congress about cyber. https://t.co/eEzQe8IznP — Christopher Soghoian (@csoghoian) January 19, 2016 The grant description: A grant to the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars will support the creation of a new Congressional Cybersecurity Lab that builds congressional capacity on cybersecurity in a nonpartisan manner.…

Apple doesn't make it easy to recover passwords for deceased family members Following the death of her husband, Peggy Bush followed the process through Canada's government to redirect pension payments and other benefits to her name, but then hit a brick wall when she realized his Apple ID password was required to reinstall apps on…

Steve Jobs movie lands two Oscar nominations Mr. Fassbender was nominated for Best Actor for his role as Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Ms. Winslet was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Joanna Hoffman. The movie landed two Golden Globe awards earlier this month, too. Ms. Winslet won an award for best supporting…

Assemblyman Matthew Titone with Kimberly Cantoni, Miss Staten Island, Jordan Lane Kowalski, Miss Staten Island’s Outstanding Teen, and Alexandra Mazzucchelli, Miss New York’s Outstanding Teen. Source: Assemblyman Matthew Titone   As noted by The Next Web, the bill itself includes a passage intended to make the case for such a bill: The safety of the…

In a research note to his clients—wouldn't it be interesting to see who pays Trip Chowdry for his financial advice? I mean, this is the guy who said in March of 2014 that Apple had 60 days to release an “iWatch” or die, one of the most unsophisticated, myopic, and arbitrary predictions ever. Then, in…

Sensormate Olfactory Alarm Clock The unit consists of the device, a power supply and, of course, a scent pack. The scents are created by Givaudan, a global leader in the fragrance Industry. The device comes with a Toast capsule, and there are currently six other scents which come in packs of two. The Continental Breakfast…

Oh yeah. I was Cool™. Anyhoo, a friend of mine suggested I wear eye liner*. This was on Halloween, and I knew it to be a splendid idea. She showed me how to apply it and after stepping back and admiring my new look in my bathroom mirror, I deemed it a success. I was…

With the view that Apple's leadership is “a little bit too vanilla,” Mr. Maldonado's proposal states: Shareholders request that the Board of Directors adopt an accelerated recruitment policy requiring Apple Inc. to increase the diversity of senior management and its board of directors, two bodies that presently fails to adequately represent diversity (particularly Hispanic, African-American,…

Mr. Cook's total earnings are up about $1 million over 2014 and comprise a $2 million base salary, $8 million in non-equity incentives, and approximately $281,000 in other compensation. Other top Apple executives — Luca Maestri, Eddy Cue, Dan Riccio, and Bruce Sewell — all received total compensation in 2015 of approximately $25 million each, with…

Chatlight on a MacBook Air The device has two rows of alternating white LEDs and yellow LEDs tuned for an image that's not too warm and not too cold. Those LEDs have a cover made of diffusing plastic, and the bank of lights can be rotated to affect how much light you get. There are…

1. Use Conditional Formatting. This feature works a lot like rules in Mail—“if this thing is true, then do this, but if this other thing is true instead, do a different thing.” Clear as mud, right? Well, here’s what I mean. I’ve set up some conditions on the cells below to say “If the number…

The Misfit Ray fitness tracker Instead of a boxy body other dedicated fitness trackers offer, or the flat disk of the Misfit Shine, the Ray is a small aluminum tube shape with either a plastic or leather band. Like the Shine, Ray tracks daily steps, distance traveled, calories burned, and sleep patterns. It also uses…

________________________ Leadership isn't just financial success with products customers want and enjoy. Leadership is also an outwardly visible commitment, over a long period of time, to products that Apple believes in. It also means using Apple's technical expertise and trustworthiness to influence the industry in areas where Apple is now following the pack, losing its…

You might remember Mr. Ahmad from such Apple Death Knells as #68, where he laid out a price target of US$60 for $AAPL in February of this year. He later upped his target to $85, but maintained a “Sell” rating on the the stock. Apple's stock is admittedly down since then, closing out Monday at…

Judge dismisses lost iMessage lawsuit Federal Judge Lucy Koh, who also handled the patent infringement cases between Apple and Samsung, issued a terse ruling stating, The Court has granted the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Defendant Apple Inc. See ECF No. 112. Accordingly, the Clerk of the Court shall enter judgment in favor of…

  John Chen at Techonomy 2010 Source: Wikimedia You would think with that title Mr. Chen was offering a way forward in the debate over encryption and privacy. Only he doesn't. It's more like he's saying it's important to find a way to move forward without offering any solutions, proposals, or anything else germane to…

Michael Fassbender as Apple’s Steve Jobs The movie starts Michael Fassbender as Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and paints a portrait of who he was from the time of the original Macintosh release up through the introduction of the iMac. It's not a documentary, but instead is a drama showing an impression of who he was.…

Samsung copies innovates again with pressure sensitive touch Insider sources said the electronics maker is expected to officially announce the new feature for its Galaxy smartphones during the Mobile World Congress expo in February with plans for a March rollout, according the Wall Street Journal. They may include a fast charging systems and retina scanners…

Netflix uses the H.264/Advanced Video Coding (AVC) compression algorithm for content up to and including 1080p video. Years ago, when they adopted this algorithm, Netflix developed what's called a bitrate ladder. That is, for a given video resolution, they selected bitrates best, on average, for the video stream. This was independent of the kind of…

Nathan Donato-Weinstein reported that the space was last used by Maxim Integrated Products, a semiconductor firm that also sold the property to Apple. The significance there is that the building has clean room facilities, though it's far too small to significantly contribute to Apple's voracious chip needs. Marketing materials for the site described the space…

New York wants to know if your broadband is too slow The state is using a broadband performance test website, according to Reuters, that lets users check their Internet speed. Mr. Schneiderman wants users to snap a screenshot of the test results and complete an online for so he can use the data as part…

Steve Jobs Mural by Banksy Photo credit: Banksy's website Mr. Jobs, the biological son of a Syrian immigrant, is featured in the mural with a Mac in one hand and a bag of possessions over his other shoulder. The Jungle is where many Syrians and other refugees have gathered as they try to illegally reach…

iPhone 6s Smart Case “As you probably know from being a user of this now, one of the real insights here is, have you ever used other cases and tried to get them on? If you make this solid all the way across, in order to get it on, you'd find it very difficult to…

Episode #154   My friend Lesa Snider is a talented photographer and author, which is why I keep copies of Photoshop: The Missing Manual and Photos for Mac and iOS: The Missing Manual within reach whenever I’m using Photoshop or Photos. Lesa’s concise step-by-step instructions and crystalline prose makes them my go-to books when it…